Some Kind Of Crap
Some Kind Of Crap is the second studio album by American recording artist Richie McCartney. It was released on February 12, 2009, by Fach Records. In between polemics and problems, the album debuted atop of the US Billboard 200 selling more than 600,000 units in its first week. Some Kind Of Crap is a very polemic album, with its lyrics being about McCartney's past problems and incidents. The lead single "Trash" was released with a performance at the Video Music Awards 2008, where McCartney was also the host along with Elisha Stevens. The song was hyped by its polemic lyrics, which was considered rebellious and a message to the media. "I just want to be a normal guy and live my life. I'm young, I'm only 22. I need to have fun. Why does everything have to be like this?", said McCartney in an interview on TRL CSAV in 2009. Some Kind Of Crap was supposed to be released in December 2008. However, it was later postponed to February, being then released along with the second single "Hollywood". Background and development Recording sessions for Some Kind Of Crap started on May 2009 and finished in December 2008. McCartney worked with 10 producers for the album, and it was executive produced by Farren Dan. McCartney wanted the project to be about his difficult relationship with the media and the paparazzis, so he focused on writing and co-writing most songs on the album. It was, at the time, his most personal album, talking about fame, manipulation and other themes that made him feel exposed and abused. Promotion McCartney promoted the album in several occasions, starting at the Video Music Awards 2008, following with TV shows and radio appearances. Some Kind Of Crap also had a promo tour on House Of Blues. After that, McCartney started the Freaky Fight Tour, which received two DVDs, one from the American leg and another from the European leg. Singles "Trash" was released as the lead single from the album. It was a massive hit around the world because of its lyrical content, which was specifically about McCartney's relationship with the media and how he felt about that. The song was released after many scandals regarding Kate Logan, Alissa Baker, Haylie Ferguson, Brian Felton, and more. "Trash" peaked at number 1 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and stayed in the top 10 for nine weeks. It also peaked atop the charts in Australia, Canada, and German. In the UK in peaked at number 4. "Hollywood" was released as the second single from the album. It had a good initial run in the charts but died fast because of the radios freeze in December and also the problems in McCartney's personal life, which impacted his image negatively. The song peaked at number 12 in the US Billboard Hot 100, number 18 in the UK Singles Chart, and in the top 20 in Australia, Canada and German. "Pop Messiah" was released as the third single from the record. The song was acclaimed by fans, who demanded it to be a single by the album's release. However, it's controversial lyrical content caused a boycott by the American radios, which damaged the song's performance in the charts. It peak at number 19 in the US Billboard Hot 100. "Freaky" was released as the fourth single from the album. It failed to perform well in the charts, despite it being one of the fans favorite tracks. It peak outside of the top 40 in most charts and lacked promotion to help its sales. "Dirty Pop", "Miss Perfect", "My Idol", and "They Want My Fame" were released as the final singles from the album simultaneously. The first one was released in the US, the second in Europe, the third in Australia and the fourth in the rest of the globe. Critical reception At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 55, based on 14 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Billboard was positive toward the album, writing that the album is "a must-heard recording rich with pleasantly surprising depth". In a mixed review, E! Online wrote, "If he had just shown up and sang his ass off, Some Kind Of Crap would've been a better show". Josh Kun from Spin commented, "As an artistic statement, Some Kind Of Crap is all over the place–it's a move toward hip-hop, it's a move toward dance, it's pop, it's Disney". Jancee Dunn of Rolling Stone provided a three-out-of-five-stars rating for the album, calling it "almost" an album for grown-ups, yet criticized its lack of musical concentration. Blender wrote a mixed review, yet commenting that it is better than Stephen Marchell's works. Writing for BBC Music, Jacqueline Hodges said that the album "is as full-on bold and over the top as most of Richie's media appearances. Much of this seems to be an exercise in using the computer to cover bad vocals". Jim Wirth for NME commented that Some Kind Of Crap is a "Brian Felton album". Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine commented that the album is "so overproduced and overwrought that it could easily pass for a Stephen Marchell album". Track listing